Financing the Transition: How climate change could impact the financial system presents a fictional Fast Track scenario, suggesting the key features of how a rapid transition to a low-carbon, resilient economy could play out in the financial system in terms of impacts on assets as well as on financial policy. This scenario helps to challenge some of today’s assumptions, notably that climate disruption is distant in time, largely driven by developed countries, has limited implications for financial authorities and is set apart from questions of financial culture and conduct.
This paper was presented at the Future Horizons conference, which was held in April 2017. The conference report and all the expert papers presented are available here.
Across the world, a growing number of governments, regulators, standard-setters and market actors are starting to incorporate sustainability factors into the rules that govern the financial system.
The Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System has been initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme to advance design options that would deliver a step change in the financial system’s effectiveness in mobilizing capital towards a green and inclusive economy.